Decorative combined greeting card, fan, and candle extinguisher

ABSTRACT

A combined decorative hand held fan, greeting card, and candle extinguisher that can be used to help celebrate festive occasions. The fan contains decorative printing and text boxes on which congratulatory messages, date/time/place of the festive occasion, as well as a listing of guests and presents can be written. In the preferred mode, the fan can be folded along pre-set seams to form a configuration that allows the celebrant to extinguish celebratory candles from the draft created by moving the folded fan quickly in the proximity of the top of the lit candles.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This non-provisional patent application claims priority based on provisional patent application 60/623,686 dated Oct. 29, 2004.

FEDERAL RESEARCH STATEMENT

None

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a combined decorative fan, greeting card, and candle extinguisher that can be used for festive occasions. More specifically, the invention relates to a decorative hand fan that also functions as a greeting card and an apparatus for extinguishing candles such as those that would be found on a birthday cake.

Families, friends, and co-workers celebrate a variety of events throughout the year including birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, promotions, academic and athletic achievements, religious events and other important milestones. Often these celebrations involve the presentation of a greeting card signed by the celebrants and specialty food item such as special breads or a cake. Frequently, these specialty food items are adorned with candles, which must be extinguished by the guest of honor.

Often, in the course of the celebration, the greeting cards are lost. Furthermore, the candles are frequently extinguished at these celebrations by the guest of honor blowing on the candles which has the added unpleasant side effect of potentially spreading germs over the cake or other specialty food item.

The instant invention provides a novel and unique apparatus for recording guests, best wishes, and highlights of a celebration along with a means for extinguishing the candles on a specialty food.

Hand held fans are well known in the prior art having been in existence in one form or another for thousands of years. However, the instant invention provides some unique features which are not found in the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed toward a device that is a combined decorative fan, greeting card, and candle extinguisher that can be used for festive occasions. The basic concept of the invention is to present a device that can not only be used to extinguish candles, but which can also be used a commemorative device showing, for example, date/time/place, lists of attendees, list gifts, and best wishes of attendees.

More specifically, the invention relates to a decorative hand fan that also functions as a greeting card and an apparatus for extinguishing candles such as those that would be found on a birthday cake.

The invention is comprised of a hand fan 10 that is made of sturdy cardboard or a similar material. It has at least two seams which allows for folding the fan into a smaller profile which facilitates storing and transporting. The fan has decorative printing 50 on it which allows celebrants and guests to write greetings, list presents, and note the date, time and place of the celebration.

The fan 10 can be folded to form a device which can be used to extinguish lit candles on, for example, a birthday cake by rapidly moving the folded fan at a safe distance over said candles and thereby causing the draft from said motion to extinguish the candles.

The fan has the added benefit of providing a mechanism for extinguishing, for example, candles on a birthday cake without having the celebrant blow the candles out, thereby eliminating a potential source of germs being distributed onto a cake or other specialty food that a group of people will be ingesting.

The preferred mode for instant invention is shown in FIGS. 1-3. These figures depict the instant invention being used to celebrate a birthday.

FIG. 1 shows the front of the invention with birthday greetings, an area where the date/time/place can be written, and an area where various congratulatory messages can be written.

FIG. 2 shows the back of the invention with areas where people can sign the fan as they would sign a birthday card and an area where the presents and who gave the presents can be listed.

Finally, FIG. 3 shows how the fan can be folded into a shape that allows the celebrant to extinguish the candles by moving the device at a safe distance over the candles and allowing the draft from said motion to “blow out” the candles.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the front view of the device depicting a slogan and areas for writing commemorative dates, times, places, etc.

FIG. 2 shows the back view of the device depicting areas for autographs and signatures and gift lists.

FIG. 3 shows an example of how the device would be used by a celebrant to extinguish candles.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed toward a combined decorative fan, greeting card, and candle extinguisher that can be used for festive occasions. More specifically, the invention relates to a decorative hand fan that also functions as a greeting card and an apparatus for extinguishing candles such as those that would be found on a birthday cake.

Referring to the figures and in particular to FIG. 1, a front view of the device 10 is shown which clearly demonstrates that the device is a hand held fan shaped device with at least one but preferentially two or more folds 30 which allow the device to be folded and stored in a reduced profile which allows for easier packaging, shipment, and storage. The device includes multiple areas 60 where commemorative items such as date, time, and place as well as various best wishes can be written.

As with most other fans, the device 10 is designed so that it can be gripped at the narrow end and used for various purposes including extinguishing lit candles on a cake.

Referring to FIG. 2, a back view of the device 10 is shown clearly depicting the multiple folds 30 and areas 40 where gifts can be listed and other areas 50 where signatures of attendees can be placed.

Referring to FIG. 3, a preferred method of using the device 10 is shown. In general, a celebrant folds the device 10, grasps the folded device at the narrow end, and moves it back and forth at a safe but effective distance from the lit candles in order to produce sufficient draft to extinguish said candles.

The preferred mode for instant invention is shown in FIGS. 1-3. These figures depict the instant invention being used to celebrate a birthday. FIG. 1 shows the front of the invention with birthday greetings, an area where the date/time/place can be written, and an area where various congratulatory messages can be written.

FIG. 2 shows the back of the invention with areas where people can sign the fan as they would sign a birthday card and an area where the presents and who gave the presents can be listed.

Finally, FIG. 3 shows how the fan can be folded into a shape that allows the celebrant to extinguish the candles by moving the device at a safe distance over the candles and allowing the draft from said motion to “blow out” the candles.

While the preferred mode shows how the invention is configured and can be used for a birthday celebration, the invention can be easily adapted for virtually every other type of celebration including graduations, weddings, promotions, retirements, etc.

The preferred mode also shows a fan that can contains two seams that allows the fan to be folded into a configuration that is easier to store and transport as well as a configuration that optimizes the ability of the celebrant to extinguish the candles through the draft created by moving the folded fan at a safe distance above lit candles on a cake. However, the instant invention also comprises the use of fans which don't have any seams and do not require folding in order to extinguish the candles.

A further embodiment of the preferred mode of the invention is to coat the device with some fireproofing chemical or, alternately, make the device out of a fire retardant paper. This facet of the invention serves to minimize the danger inherent in bringing the device into close proximity to burning candles and thereby creating a fire hazard. 

1. A hand held fan that contains surfaces on which decorative designs and text boxes can be printed which allows a person or persons to write various notations on said surfaces.
 2. A hand held fan as in claim 1 wherein said fan contains seams which allow said fan to be folded into a configuration that facilitates storage and transportation as well as the process of extinguishing lit candles.
 3. A hand held fan as in claims 1 or 2 wherein said fan is made of fireproof cardboard.
 4. A hand held fan as in claims 1 or 2 wherein said fan is coated with a fireproof chemical. 